'The Good Wife' 5.1: Capital Punishment And Politicians' Daughters

A superb start to the new season 5 of The Good Wife on Sunday night, with an episode that was both as serious as it gets and laughing out loud funny.

First the funniest part, about a web site featuring politicians' hot daughters, with photos - primarily head shots and captions - including Gracie Florrick. Also up on the site are Abby Huntsman (good publicity for The Cycle), Bristol Palin, and Meghan McCain. Abby is appropriately at the top of this list, and the whole bit typifies the mixture of real and fictional which The Good Wife does so well.

This gets us to the serious part, and the brutal capital punishment case that Diane, Will, and Alicia are contesting. Few if any television shows do this as well as The Good Wife, and the roller-coaster of developments keeps your heart in your throat until the very end.

The case also plays into Alicia's decision to leave the firm, which she doesn't want to do now until the capital punishment case has been resolved one way or the other. This in turn leads to the Young Turks deciding to wait a few weeks - because they want to collect a bonus - and Alicia forced to lie to Will and Diane about what's going on in this regard. Again, great moral dilemma, another kind of story that The Good Wife excels in.

Back to funny - there's a smartphone on some kind of peripatetic stalk which allows someone not in the office to take part in some of the discussions and drives everyone else a little crazy. And Melissa George, of In Treatment fame, shows up in Peter's office ... forget about politicians' daughters, 'nuff said.

Photo Credits: CBS Broadcasting Inc.

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